Whitehall Office Building Loses 'White Elephant' Image At Last

July 13, 1986|by JODI DUCKETT, The Morning Call

It took more than two years and the talents of an aggressive, well-known real estate agency, but the status of Whitehall Township's largest office building has finally shifted from "white elephant" to occupied.

Three companies with about 65 employees are now operating on the ground, first and part of the second floors of the contemporary stone and bronze- tinted-glass building that towers over the westbound ramp of Route 22 off busy MacArthur Road.

Paul H. Rogers, sales representative for Jackson Cross Co., Philadelphia, the leasing agent for the building, says he is negotiating for leases for the remaining space in the 3 1/2 -story, 38,400-square-foot building just west of Perkins Restaurant.

Just last year, the empty $3.1-million Whitehall Office Plaza had been tagged as a clear signal that the community had little interest in Whitehall Township for anything other than shopping.

Some township officials, who argued at the time against a proposal to create an office park zone in Whitehall, reasoned that companies just were not interested in setting up a work place in the middle of the congested retail area on the township's Golden Strip, let alone at a site billed as inaccessible because of the MacArthur Road median.

But other people claimed that the building and its location had many good qualities.

"I think it's ideal," said former township Commissioner Dale Flores, referring to the quick access to Route 22 and proximity to restaurants and shopping for employees.

Flores joined others in attributing the building's lengthy vacancy to bad marketing, a soft market during a time of rapid construction of office space and negative publicity.

"When it's perceived as a white elephant, it makes my job harder. But that has changed," said Rogers, noting that the building is now competing successfully with about 700,000 square feet of office space up for grabs in the Lehigh Valley.

"That negative turned out to be a positive because everyone knows where it (the building) is now," said a representative of Ben Franklin Leasing and Finance Co., which moved into a 1,100-square-foot space on the second floor in April.

The representative said the building is an attractive one in an even more attractive location, pointing to its visibility, itsproximity to restaurants and the beautiful vistas as far as South Mountain that can be seen from nearly every window.

He noted that some companies, like his, are not affected by the building's accessibility problem, because they generate little outside traffic. And he said he likes the fact that the other tenants probably won't generate much traffic either.

"The building is very well-suited for those tenants who do not require or desire retail traffic," said Rogers.

Occupying the entire first floor is Penn-Del Directory Co., a new subsidiary of National Telephone Directory and the sales agent for the genuine Bell of Pennsylvania and Diamond State Telephone Co. yellow pages.

On the ground floor is Top 50 Videos, a 9 1/2 -month-old company which puts video kiosks in supermarkets and convenience stores. The company broke the ice in February when it became the first tenant.

The companies leased the space through Jackson Cross, a growing real estate organization with interests in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, which was hired last fall to do what others before it could not.

The original owners (Rogers said one principal has since sold out to the other) had given exclusive rights on separate occasions to three real estate agencies, according to representatives of the agencies. Some said they were unsuccessful because the owners wanted to lease space to large tenants, but that companies usually needed more or less space than the 10,000-square-feet on each floor.

Rogers declined comment on the failure of the marketing strategies used by previous agencies, but instead played up the successful marketing strategies his company has used.

According to Rogers, Jackson Cross recommended the owner lower his rental price to $11 per square foot, plus utilities, to make the building more competitive.

Its original price of $13.50 per square foot, including utilities, ranked among the highest in the Valley, where prices are $7 to $14 per square foot.

The owner, also upon the recommendation of Jackson Cross, finished the building by installing such things as drop ceilings and flooring and painting the walls so a tenant could see what his space might look like.

Large leasing signs which beckon passersby on Route 22 were erected, and Rogers said his company used "downright canvassing" to overcome the negative publicity about the building.

Tony Hanna, vice president of A.M. Barber and Associates, an Allentown company specializing in development and investments, said he is not surprised the building is now being leased if Jackson Cross is in charge and the price has been reduced.